Community Development

Community Investments Vol 21, Issue 3 Peer-to-Peer Lending and Community
Development Finance

Author(s): Ian Galloway

Winter 2009

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks directly connect computer
users online. Popular P2P platforms include
eBay and Craigslist, for example, which have transformed
the market for used consumer goods. Increasingly
popular, however, are P2P lending sites that facilitate
debt transactions by directly connecting borrowers and
lenders on the Internet. In fact, since 2005, P2P lending
sites have cropped up all over the world—Kiva, Micro-
Place, Lending Club, and Prosper are a few examples.
Currently a $647 million industry, online P2P lending is
expected to grow to $5.8 billion by 2010.